As a Western-led military strike on Syria appears increasingly likely in the wake of an alleged chemical-weapons attack last week, the Syrian government’s friends are warning the West that any attack could prove disastrous for the region.

According to the office of British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Cameron on Tuesday to tell him there was no evidence that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons. And Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich warned in a statement the same day that military intervention in Syria without a U.N. Security Council resolution would have “catastrophic consequences.” U.N. political-affairs head Jeffrey D. Feltman, in Tehran for a regional security meeting, got an earful from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who warned: “The use of military means [against Syria] will have serious consequences not only for Syria but for the entire region,” according to an account by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi given to reporters covering the event. (Araqchi went on to state that Russia had already submitted to the U.N. Security Council “proof” that Syrian rebels, not regime soldiers, had used chemical weapons.)

These kinds of apocalyptic warnings are to be expected in times of heightened tensions, and when it comes to Syria, not entirely misplaced. The Syrian conflict is multilayered, pitting not just the regime against the opposition, but Islamists against secularists, Sunnis against the country’s religious minorities, Iranian-backed Hizballah against Saudi Arabia–funded militias and an Iranian, Chinese and Russian axis against a Western coalition bent on regime change. The potential for a full-blown conflagration that could engulf the region in a drawn-out proxy war cannot be overlooked.

But for the moment at least, the threats from Iran and Russia appear intended to avert an attack rather than to suggest either country plans to engage in the war themselves. Likewise, the U.S. and its allies — probably Britain, France, Turkey and others — appear to be discussing launching strikes that are likely to be limited to known military installations rather than an all-out attack on the regime of President Bashar Assad. And if that’s the case, neither Russia nor Iran is likely to respond in any significant matter. President Obama has made it clear that he has no desire to get involved in a war that has the potential to suck in vast amounts of troops, equipment and cash for years, if not longer. That’s a desire both Russia and Iran share.

Aryn Baker is the Middle East Bureau Chief for TIME, covering politics, society, culture, religion, the arts and the military in the greater Middle East, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. She currently resides in Beirut, Lebanon.

Assad say that he do not use chemical weapon. He said that he do not know who that use chemical weapon and he think it is maybe three or two parts in the war that he do not know who are that use chemical weapon but not him and he know that if he use weapon like this then USA will stop him and some in USA said that Saddam had chemical weapon fabrics , and the American spy’s told lies to George W Bush because after some years we heard that they did not find any chemical weapon in Iraq.

What is the war in Syria about? Why was the war started? Why do they mean Assad had done since they wanted him not to rule?

What is those that start the war interested in? Why did they start the war? If Assad want the war to stop and that the people shall vote for whom they want to rule the country, then all parts can stop with war and vote. The hate that have started will only built more bad things happening. And those that rule harem in USA want to kidnap beautiful Syrian women and girls to their harem`s and they want the war to go on and they like to cheat and use US army and cheat NATO to do so it is chaos in Syria like in Libya so the harem owners can fill up their harems in USA and elsewhere with hundreds of thousands of beautiful girls to their harems. It is important that the women in the harem in USA and other places are set free and the harem walls can be tired down with haarp weapon if not the harem people take the walls down when we tell them to do it.

Some
in USA do not mind if USA soldiers and officers or others get killed
because because some kill many of the US soldiers inside USA when
they coming home from wars and also they kill their own soldiers in
the wars.

In
2008 we read in newspapers that every day in USA 18 soldiers USA
that had been in Afghanistan or Iraq war took suicide. Everybody
understand that there are nearly no soldiers that take suicide
because soldiers want to live to they die of old age. When nearly
no soldiers and officers and others in the world take suicide then we
understand that some murder the soldiers, officers and others and
those that kill them hide and camouflage the murder as it is a
suicide. I think nearly no people in the world would take suicide and
I think nearly all this we heard are suicide is in real a murder. I
would never take suicide.

In
July 2010 we read in newspaper that 31 US soldiers had take suicide
on work in June 2010 in Iraq and then we understand that some agents
from the harem people killed 31 person on work in Iraq July 2010 and
they get killed possible because they maybe would understand that the
women they sent to USA possible is sent to slavery since only they
should send the most beautiful girls from the refuge camps and from
the war over to USA.

I
think some of the harem-people in USA think they own the soldiers and
officers in USA and NATO and some of the harem- people use the
soldiers and officers to get pretty women to the harem people from
the wars and the soldiers and officers do not know about the harem,
so the soldiers and officers are cheated by the harem-people in USA.

99
% of soldiers and officers are kind and good people that work for
peace in the world and they have a dangerous job. Many that are
soldiers take the work because it is not easy to get other work in
USA for them, and soldier and officer work is sometime good paid work
and if a person shall have a family in USA he need a some money. 95 %
of the soldiers hope that they not need to kill anybody in the wars.
The last they want in life is to kill others, but to survive in wars
many have to do this.

Behind
Pentagon it must be harem-people that threaten Pentagon to start wars
because if we look at 11 sep 2001 terror then we find out that the
news and the history tell us that a air-plane crashed in to Pentagon
but not one of the 180 video-cameras that are around Pentagon have
recorded any Air-plane crashed in to Pentagon. Then it must be a bomb
that explode in Pentagon and many people get killed there. On News we
heard that a flight 93 had crashed in to Pentagon before anything had
happen there. So somebody that know about the terror thought that
they had done the terror to Pentagon called TV news and told them
that a aeroplane also had crashed in to Pentagon before some had a
bomb had exploded there.

So
we can think that the meaning was that flight 93 should crash in to
Pentagon but something happen and they did not manage to do this. It
is strange that nobody of the people in Pentagon tell us that they
tell lies when they say that a air-plane crashed in to Pentagon.
Pentagon people must be threaten much by some of those that have
harem because many that work or worked in Pentagon lost many of their
friends in the Pentagon terror and they can not say that it was a
bomb and not a air-plane that did the explosion in Pentagon terror.

Those
that threaten Pentagon to start wars do not mind if soldiers and
officers or other people die in the wars and those that threaten
Pentagon and others to start wars want confusion and poverty in the
world because then they can easy get hundred of thousands of
beautiful girls from wars or from poverty in to their harems and
nearly nobody are missing the girls because their relatives and other
that know them are dead.

I
think that many of the soldiers and officers get work and messages
when they fight in the war to take care of the beautiful women and
send them over to USA or to refuge camps. And when the soldiers came
home to USA and ask were the women that are sent from the war are
then they will hear that the women are integrated in secret places.
And the soldier and officer get confused and start to think that
maybe the women that they get messages to rescue over to USA are used
to something bad in USA since they should only rescue the most
beautiful girls and girlschilds from the war countries. After
Afghanistan war and Iraq war 80% of the most beautiful women and
girlchilds are sent to USA from the countries and then the soldiers
and officers and others understand why I mean that some of people
that have huge and small harems with drugged down kidnapped and
bought girls locked in to start wars and stop wars when they have
got nearly all the beautiful girls in the countries. The presidents
in USA do not know about the harem in USA and elsewhere so the
Presidents and government are cheated or threaten by the harem
people. George W Bush and Obama do not know about the harems. The US
and NATO soldiers and officers would not go to war in Afghanistan and
Iraq if they had known about the harems in USA.

Take
care of the soldiers and officers and protect them, because this
suicide letters are false or the soldiers are threaten to write the
letters.

It
is not easy to protect the soldiers inside USA because in USA 500 000
people disappear every year and that’s 1300 every day and nobody of
the 500 000 are found. How can 1300 persons disappear every day in
USA and that now happen in many many years , maybe IN 60 YEARS.

When
1300 person that not want to disappear can disappear every year in
USA then we understand that the harem in USA are huge like New York
City are huge.

And
when 1300 person that not want to disappear can disappear every year
in USA then we understand that

maybe
80 % of the police in USA and 80 % of CIA and FBI know about the
harems and have sex in some of the harem`s with some of the
kidnapped beautiful girls that are drugged down.

I
heard that maybe 80 % of the men that know about the harems want
that the harem stop and the girls get free and the properties that
the harem are on are set free to all people. The harem are often
camouflaged with high walls around and real soldiers and officers
guard the walls but they do not know what is behind this walls. The
soldiers and officers that guard the walls think they guard top
secret atomic submarine military bases that occupy the most
beautiful beaches in USA in hundred of years now, but in real the
soldiers and officers are cheated to guard high walls that hide huge
luxury places that are harems with thousands of naked drugged down
beautiful girls locked inside and inside there are also some men that
have bought and own the girls.

I
think that since it already has been millions of Syrian refugees
around then the harem people already have kidnapped millions of
Syrian girls and girlchilds to the harem`s and the girls are already
in harems and drugged down.

Impeach the president, send his behind to Syria and let us Americans live in peace. I don't think any of us wants war, so why is Obama trying to send us into one? When has America been responsible for the whole entire world, what part of the US Constitution states this? Give it a break already, lets focus on the fact that are economy stinks and that we owe over trillion dollars to one bank alone, not to mention the millions we owe to China. Instead lets WAR AGAINST CROOKED AMERICAN HEALTHCARE, WAR AGAINST STUDENT DEBT, WAR AGAINST EDUCATIONAL BUDGET CUTS. Help America before you spend billions helping SYRIA! There needs to be someone held responsible for taking advantage of Americans in their needs to improve their health and educate themselves. I wish the Obama administration had this sort of ferocity against these obvious sins against Americans.

I say stop denying the American people of what they need and pouring money into other countries. Think about how much money we could save if we did not stay 10 years in Iraq + Afghanistan. Our country has an issue with identifying threats. Syria is NO THREAT TO THE US, yet we attack them???? If so they have every right to attack America, just as when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. That would be completely unwanted by all of us, but why could we expect any different? We impeached Bill Clinton because the Media exposed his personal life. So why not impeach the entire O-liar administration for forcing a war that not American wants to be in, putting the American people in danger, attacking someone who didn't attack them, and for violating international rules of war?

I've always had a strong belief in the American justice system. Innocent until proven guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt! Evidence presented and a jury decides. In the case of Syria, just as the Iraq war, we the people hear nothing but empty words from our leaders. No concrete evidence provided to justify their claims. (can we say WMD's in Iraq?) They just spent millions of tax payer dollars moving an entire fleet preparing for a war it seems they already decided to wage, unless this was all for intimidation, which makes it even worse for4 the US tax payer! This thing just smells bad for everyone

Gizmodave..In all honesty, can you say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the US government didn't have anything to do with this and can you prove it? Can you honestly say that our government doesn't already have a chosen horse in this race and that our government isn't willing to do anything to make that regime change happen? Can you honestly say that you are you that naive to believe what you're saying and expect the others to believe the same? It's documented fact that our CIA had a hand in regime change in Iran back in the 50's. Can you honestly say that our government isn't still working in the same way? If there is evidence that the Syrian regime detonated chemical weapons, where the heck is it? We only hear words from our leaders but not one piece of solid evidence has been presented.

In all honesty you people commenting on something you do not have all the facts on is pretty ridiculous stupid and shows your intelligence. You see the name of my country and assume the worst as if the US started anything in that region. Great Britain and France are urging the US to step in... the US has be keeping an eye on Syria for some time but hasn't decided to do anything big till now. China and Russian have the most to lose on this,that is why they're "warning" the western countries to step down.

Let me get this right. The Syrian regime knew that UN Chemical Weapons Inspectors were in town and decided to launch a chemical attack anyways. If the opposition or some other faction/agency acquired some chemical weapons and detonated it in the reported area, killed a lot of innocent people, they could blame it on the Syrian regime. I don't believe that the Syrian regime would be so foolish. They know that their every move is being monitored world wide. On top of that they already know that the Western countries would attack if there was even the slightest idea that the regime used chemical weapons. I've read that some of these chemical weapons have a limited time frame for investigation. If the opposition detonated the weapon, it makes sense that the opposition would use snipers to keep inspectors out of the area. If it was the regime that detonated it, you'd think that the opposition would happily have the inspectors investigate and uncover the truth. Just sayin

US must taking orders from CHOSEN Israel, glamorizing its
ATROCITIES & financing the US Jew-controlled Imperial Military of our
for-sale governments that denies US Gentiles, among hundreds of others,
Universal Health so it can develop ever more deadly weaponry to subjugate all
peaceful humans to the will of the CHOSEN Jews and kill another 2 million
Arabs, M.E. Christians and Moslems just in Iraq and Afghanistan. US tail
maintains that MASTER, BARBARIC Israel mUSt maintain its hegemony over Arabs
through traitorous kings installed by Imperial US-U.K!! Enough! In all of book
19 of Deuteronomy, a racist ‘God’ calls Jews CHOSEN (in 200+ Biblical
passages), gives them the heavily populated ‘Land of Milk and Honey’ of ancient
Semitic Palestinians and Arabs and sanctions the killing of ALL the peoples
Israelites conquered: Palestinians, Samaritans, Sumerians etc! This comes after
10 centuries of re-writing of the Bible to sanitize the image of a vindictive,
psychopathic God childishly obsessed with forcing ‘His creation’ to ‘worship’
Him rather than making mankind equanimous and recognizing the equal rights of
others! ALL US Presidents (and 90% Jew Congress) since Jew FDR’s time (incldng
half-Jew W. Churchill) were Jews or converts from Judaism, married to Jewesses
or have Jew blood in them incldng Mr Barack Dunham Obama AND Michelle COHEN!
If you want peace, negate CHOSEN Israel and restore the rights of Israel’s
victims!

Russia's military "muscle" is an illusion and has been for over 200 years. The world always worries about the great Russian bear, but history shows that if it weren't for cold winters the Russians would have almost no military successes.

This is a nation that has yet to master the complicated intricacies of the flush toilet. Visit Russia sometime and you will wonder why we ever thought they could compete with the West.

@Justbuzz2001 I am fed up with all of your conspiracy theorists, always asking "can you demonstrate the US is not intervening"? Well, it is YOU who keep saying the USA is doing something, so it should fall on YOU to prove the US is intervening from before the bombing that's about to happen!!! Also, 9% of Americans want to do something about this war, with 94% not wanting to touch it with a 10 ft pole! None of us want to spend money an blood in an ungrateful country that cannot get their act together long enough so they don't kill each other!!

@gizmodave Commenting "on something you do not have all the facts on" is a right supported by law in any more or less sophisticated country. I believe it's the 1st amendment in the US (,although I wonder whether the US has any shred left of the sophistication that brought about that particular amendment).

Waging wars based on something you do not have all the facts on is something completely different, wouldn't you agree?

@VaroujanTourian Really? And you know this HOW? Sounds like you are making stuff up as you go without a trace of evidence...this is the REAL WORLD, not that third world Banana Republic where you clearly live in, in the US of A we believe in EVIDENCE before we open our mouths...so in view of the FACTS, why don't you just SHUT UP?

@vaja George attacked their UN peacekeeping forces upon the order of the US! And as such they are permanent members of UN and need to act slowly - and during George there was no civilian deaths as could be expected from this big catastrophe. Resolution was also not passed by Clinton to attack Yugoslavia

@janemcqueen That's ridiculous of you to say so janemcqueen - the West is still fearful of Russia which has huge military force and countless different weapons - It is daring of Russia to show her foot to the US UK and France most of the time.

@romano70 Really? Evidence? Hahaha well the last time we checked in Iraq there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction - what happened to evidence that Colin Powell shown at UN Security Council's large projector :-D